Why do you ride retro?

[tintin40]

Because I can't buy a new Trimble Plus I like the vintage Trimble I've got.
The later versions have more carbon & lighter But also have more 'problems'

 

[stevet1]

Retro satisfies the urge in me to buy shiny anodised bits that I can't justify for my modern bike as I'd trash them in no time
Modern bike - practical long lasting vfm parts built for strength. Looks come a long way secondary.
Retro bike - Parts I lusted after as a teen, doesn't matter if they're lightweight as I have my modern bike for when I want to ride hard.

But yes I agree with your point about riders new to the sport who think 100mm+ fs suspension and discs are absoloutely necessary. As I've said before I started dirt jumping on a 19" xc frame with 45mm travel a 130mm stem and a flat bar.

 

[scant]

two issues here for me.

1) Whilst the new stuff is a LOT better performance wise than the stuff from ten+ years ago, I am no better a rider (in fact recent excursions on - and then abruptly OFF - the bike have shown that I actually have less ability on a bike now) so therefore whilst my 'proper' bike is v nice, and has 27 gears, 185mm discs, decent 120mm forks - its way better than I will ever be, I will never push the kit too much.

2) (the most pertinent issue for me) In 1992, when I first picked up a MTB mag and looked at the pictures of the shiney lovely mountain bike things (I have always had bikes, its a family thing) I was hooked, but at the tender age of 12, and obviously through my teenage years I couldnt afford any of it. Now, I have slightly more money, but the 'stuff' is also less expensive.

I didnt know this pic had been taken till after I'd landed. This is 1 of the smaller drops on the way home. some of the drops in the woods are much bigger! I guess its as much about personal development then? I guess its gotta be related if you compare how you ride now to how we rode back then. I've done drops as big as this fully rigid BITD, but the landing sure wasnt as butter smooth.
aside from the new stuff working better thing I view my bikes in different ways. new skool bikes are like hire cars to me, use & abuse! retro bikes get cleaned with cotton buds & put on pedestals, never to be sold! modern bikes get turned over every few years. I wouldnt have the heart to thrown a pristine retro that i'd spent ages restoring down a rock infested welsh mountainside in torrential rain!

so dont get me wrong, i love (yes love!) my retro bikes for what they are. i just dont want to ride/abuse them anymore. retro bike price is deffo rising. while its easily possible to build a cheap retro bike, theres lots of bikes on this site that cost waaay more than any modern bike that would work miles better!

& yeh I am wearing a lot of clothing, was about -1 that day & besides I feel the cold :roll:

 

[dekerfintheshed]

Personally, I prefer the ride of an old steel frame. In my opinion, frame designs were optimised around the early-mid 90's so why buy modern if that's what you're happy with... Components on the other hand have progressed, I ride with a mix of stuff form 88' to 2000's that I feel confident with. You do feel safe on a modern full bouncer but you can't beat the feel of rigid or short travel hardtails...
Plus they're cool as f**k..... Well I think so, my mates think I'm a sad geek

 

[one-eyed_jim]

When I bought my '92 Stumpjumper in the late nineties it was getting hard to find a quality rigid steel bike without going custom. It was old, and therefore cheap. It's retro now.

I like the simplicity of rigid bikes, and I enjoy picking up bargains, finding out what works with what, putting together something with a little more character and involvement than an off-the-peg bike. I don't race any more, so speed isn't as important to me as ruggedness and simplicity. It's possible to find those virtues in a modern bike (an Inbred, say) but my Stumpy isn't broken - no reason to change it.

I'd like to own a modern suspended bike one day, but I'm waiting for the technology to mature...

 

[Russell]

I ride retro because I bought a new bike in 1993 and didn't get another one until 2004. I love my old bike and it still gets ridden, but I'm not daft enough to suggest that my modern ride isn't better. The old bikes get less use as they become more valuable and more cherished. The Zaskar is confined to sunny days only and the old Fire Mountain has been assigned commuter duty.

My modern MTBs are both short travel hardtails, I've still not been convinced that I need a full sus bike for the riding that I do.

 

[utahdog2003]

Because new stuff...with all the flat black, el-cheapo painted components, black spokes, manufacturers all using some variation on the pointy-decal-as-transition-from-one-color-to-another schtik, and frames all coming from the same two or three plants in Asia...is all the same. Dull, boring, lifeless, sanitized, and quite frankly just plain lazy.

Plus, as with my two custom frames, I have the tools, skills and ability, and opportunity to select every little bit specifically for the bike, right down to an anodised blue cable end if I want. I source the parts, I build the wheels, I repair or rebuild the components, and when all is said and done, I build my bike!

 

[TheGreenRabbit]

I like skiny steel tubes, and if it aint broke dont fix it. as they say.

 

[legrandefromage]

I had a GT from new ('93 ish) - when I went to replace it with a £2.5k Cannondale - it was awful - sold it went back to the GT. Bought a Marin - sold it, went back to the GT.

Have had many new bikes since and still go back to the GT.


The Airborne is a totally modern frame but with old USE rigid forks, M730 cranks - it rides better than the GT (being Ti it bloody well should do!) but now after some 40,000m plus, the GT has earned its right to stay.

The old stuff mixes well with new to combine and make some very sexy and functional looking stuff.

 

[ededwards]

I like riding retro and being able to spend many hours in the shed pottering around with lots of bits and pieces and failing to make them work. I'm sure that my mistakes would be far more expensive with newer bikes. Plus I have no self respect so no issues with walking down or up anything I cannot ride.

In reality I'm a Luddite and remained unconvinced that these new fangled ideas will ever really catch on, it's just taking them a bit longer to go the way of the e-stay (please no one take the last sentence seriously).